The Trump administration's 2017 National Security Strategy gave an unequivocal assessment that the world has entered an era of outright geostrategic competition between “those who favour repressive systems and those who favour free societies”. But will countries want to hear about the benefits of democracy from a White House that appears more enamoured with authoritarian "strongmen" than liberal democratic values? And would a new president in 2020 make any difference? Macquarie University lecturer Dr Lavina Lee joins the podcast to discuss her new report on these issues.

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Produced by Apoorva Kolluru.

Thanks to the Bubamara Brass Band and Ketsa for their musical contributions to this episode.